But the 49-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, head since the age of four of one of the new independent schools of Tibetan Buddhism centered in India and Nepal, ...

For centuries in Tibet -- incorporated into communist China since 1951 -- and its surrounds, women were strictly barred from practicing any form of martial art.

In his homeland Himalayan region of Ladakh, the Gyalwang Drukpa said, women were mainly servants, cooks and cleaners to monks.

About three years ago he decided to break out of this pattern and improve the health and spiritual well-being of women by training them in kung fu and even allowing them to perform sacred rites once also restricted to men.

Wow! He must have absolute power to be able to just decide that centuries of tradition should just be put aside. Good for him! What an amazing individual!